James Gurney

This weblog by Dinotopia creator James Gurney is for illustrators, plein-air painters, sketchers, comic artists, animators, art students, and writers. You'll find practical studio tips, insights into the making of the Dinotopia books, and first-hand reports from art schools and museums.

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or by email:gurneyjourney (at) gmail.comSorry, I can't give personal art advice or portfolio reviews. If you can, it's best to ask art questions in the blog comments.

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All images and text are copyright 2015 James Gurney and/or their respective owners. Dinotopia is a registered trademark of James Gurney. For use of text or images in traditional print media or for any commercial licensing rights, please email me for permission.

However, you can quote images or text without asking permission on your educational or non-commercial blog, website, or Facebook page as long as you give me credit and provide a link back. Students and teachers can also quote images or text for their non-commercial school activity. It's also OK to do an artistic copy of my paintings as a study exercise without asking permission.

Thursday, October 26, 2017

V.H. asks: "Dear Gurney, I have a question to ask you. It is about your Coke can post from 2013. It is a funny post, but I was wondering if you made this drawing yourself. It looks so much like a drawing I made back in high school. I can see that a name is chopped of in the right corner. According to your blog, it also does not seem to be your style." —V.H.

Dear V.H. Yes, the drawing is by me. I drew it in a beer garden in Ireland in 2004. If you look closely, you'll see "JG 04" in the shaded section at the lower right.

I can't say whether the drawing is my style or not, as I don't think much about style.

I wasn't looking at other Coke can drawings when I drew it, but now I can see from a quick Google search that my drawing is not the only drawing of a crushed Coke can. Other artists may have drawn the same subject before me, and others will do it after me. Some will do it better than me.

But the important thing is that each of us encounters our own world for ourselves with our own eyes.

10 comments:

This reminds me of a Mash-Up of Jasper Johns and Andy Warhol! Or maybe one of Andy’s transitional works between his Soup cans and Car Crashes? I think you might be on-to a whole new expressive series!! ;) -RQ

Oh, James, you are toooo, tooooooo kind. I will add that over the years, I have judged numerous high school competitions (local, regional, state-Congressional, etc.) and I can tell you that even when students are advised not to enter class assignments, the number of "crushed pop can" variations entries always tickles me. I suspect that they are so taken with their new-found skill that they just can't resist entering their crushed pop can art! Chuckle. So believe me when I tell you, V. H., there are thousands of artists, high school or otherwise, who have tried their hand at drawing the image of crushed pop cans. No one needs to "borrow" yours.

There’s something oddly dispiriting about Coke cans in Ireland, in a beer garden, no less.

I know, I know — Coca Cola has been everywhere forever. Still. I suppose it’s when the “world we’re encountering with our own eyes” has blurred into bland homogeneity; the edges of every American town defined by the same franchises — the commercial approach to Anchorage interchangeable with Atlanta — and the pubs of Ireland serving Coca Cola.

So, the logical question; why do I not feel the same way about Guinness bottles in the States...

Ironically I just found a painting of a crushed (Diet) Coke can I made in jr high school, in the early 80s. It was a significant find for me, since I was kicked out of the house at 18 and all my student art was destroyed, so I have no record of what I did with art in school. More than 30 years later, cleaning the garage I found my yearbook from jr high and was amazed to find this watercolor study stuck in it.